13 January 2015

Church Hates Lesbians Even After They Die

The New Hope church in Lakewood, Colorado, led by pastor Ray Chavez who founded the church in 1981 to minister to those afflicted by drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence, has refused to hold a funeral service for a woman who died at age thirty-three who is survived by her wife and children, because she was a lesbian. Instead, it posted security guards to keep protesters out. As a result, a secular funeral home ended up hosting the funeral instead.

The New Hope church, of course, has every constitutional right to do just that under the First Amendment's freedom of religion and freedom of association clauses.

But, when they act as they do, these Christians don't look very Christian. The Gospels are full of instances of Jesus snubbing Jewish religious officials of his day for similar behavior. But, scriptures are rarely a good source to understand how people who practice a religion really live their faith.